


Birthday Woes

by EloquentDossier



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Birthday, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluffy, Light Angst, M/M, Slight Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 20:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5600437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EloquentDossier/pseuds/EloquentDossier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>It didn't bother him when the call came in.  Really, it didn't.  Or at least not <strong>initially</strong>.</em>
</p><p>xxx</p><p>In which the team gets called away on a case and forgets Hotch's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Woes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarkJediQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/gifts).



> DarkJediQueen's birthday was technically two days ago, on the 30th. I tried (and failed) to write something on time, but I didn't want to give up on it entirely. 
> 
> And many thanks to the lovely Reidemption for sparking the idea and for doing a read-through for mistakes. ~~If there are any other ones, they're entirely my own because I did make some slight changes after.~~
> 
> Anywho! Happy (belated) Birthday, dearie! Hopefully you'll like it, and if not, feel free to let me have it. (; ~~I also apologize ahead of time for how choppy this is.~~

It didn't bother him when the call came in.  Really, it didn't.  Or at least not _initially_.

Hotch had been away on cases during his birthday before.  It sort of came with the territory of being an FBI agent.  He couldn't think of a single team member whose birthday _hadn't_ coincided with a case at one point or another.  So in the grand scheme of things, the case truly was what bothered him the least.

The fact that he’d only been able to talk to his son on the phone for a few minutes did cause some mixed feelings, but in retrospect he was glad he’d been able to speak to Jack at all.  If his birthday had been the next day, he wouldn’t have seen the call until it was far too late to call back.  That phone call had easily been the highlight of his day, which actually led to the issue at hand.

Not one member of his team said anything to him.  He had given them the benefit of the doubt during the case; it was easy to get wrapped up in their job and forget something like that, when it didn’t always directly affect them.  Everyone’s birthday had been forgotten by them all at least once, only to be remembered during the return trip or upon returning to the bullpen.

But nothing ever came.  Not from Garcia when she called to check in; not from Rossi when the older man sat next to him; and most certainly not from the only person other than Jack he truly _wanted_ to hear acknowledgement from.  The entire ride home had been filled with idle chatter concerning plans for when they finished their reports, and he had given his input where it was due and even made a few dryly humorous comments to ensure things stayed the same.

None of them needed to know that with each passing moment his stomach knotted tighter with disappointment.  Not when it was such a petty thing to be upset over.

* * *

Hotch glanced at his companion curiously when he heard the younger man cursing beneath his breath.  “Something wrong?” he queried as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

“I left my bag under my desk.  I don’t know how I forgot it,” Reid answered, his brow furrowed and his eyes distant in a way that Hotch knew meant he was trying to discern what could have distracted him enough to make him forget it.  “But it's all right.  I can get it later.  Let’s go pick up Jack.”

The Unit Chief shook his head and turned around.  “It won’t take more than five minutes, Reid.  You have far too many things in there to just leave it until Monday.”  He heard the other man sputter for a moment before the sound of hasty footsteps echoed in the lot.  Hotch was startled when fingers circled his wrist and squeezed gently, and his gaze snapped to Reid curiously.  The contact was over as quickly as it began, and Reid glanced at Hotch from beneath his lashes, his lips quirking into a smile.

For a traitorous moment hope reared its head, but the younger man looked away from him and continued walking in amiable silence, leaving the disappointment to flood through him yet again.

* * *

As Hotch had predicted, they were back outside within five minutes, and then they were on their way to Jessica’s.  He was slightly concerned, however, since he knew both Jessica and Jack would bring up his birthday, and he was going to _hate_ seeing the guilt and shock on Reid’s face when his partner realized he’d forgotten about it.

Reid did prove to be a slight distraction from those worries, however, when he brought up a movie he thought they could all go see over the weekend.  (Granted, there was the constant niggling of hope the entire time, causing him to think that _perhaps_ Reid was suggesting it as a birthday outing since they’d been on a case.  But only Hotch had to know that.)

When they arrived at Jessica’s, Reid was still discussing the merits of the movie as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping inside in a practiced, distracted way.  Hotch finally held up a hand and started to say, “We’ll see what Jack says,” but before he could even get the first syllable out, there was a loud exclamation of “Surprise!” that stopped him in his tracks.

The entire team was standing in a group in the middle of Jessica’s foyer, with party streamers and a banner that spelled out, “Happy Birthday” in multicolored, shiny letters.  It took him a moment to recover, and he ended up shaking his head.  “I thought you had forgotten.”

Garcia made a pitying noise and stepped up to hug him as she stated, “Sir, you have no idea how hard it was to _not_ say something.”

“Especially for Spence.  He pitched a fit when we told him that we’d agreed not to say anything, and he kept giving us these sad looks afterwards,” JJ added, and Hotch glanced at the blonde to see her grinning.

“JJ!” Reid yelped, and Hotch didn’t even have to look to see how red the younger man’s face was.  He couldn’t quite resist looking, though, and even grinned, which caused Reid to cross his arms with a scowl-like pout.

The dark-haired man chuckled and turned to accept his other hugs and handshakes from the rest.  He was relieved when he was finally allowed to scoop his son up and open the card the boy had made for him.  He smiled when he saw the mixture of Captain America and Doctor Who stickers and drawings, as well as Reid’s scrawl added underneath Jack’s name.  “Thank you, buddy,” he whispered, kissing the top of Jack’s head.  The boy only clung to him tighter in response, and Hotch had no complaints.

* * *

It wasn’t until later that evening, after they’d gotten home and put Jack to bed, that Hotch came up behind Reid after the younger man had just taken out his contacts and put on his glasses.  He felt Reid relax back against his chest as he circled his arms around Reid’s waist, and he caught the other man’s hazel-eyed gaze in the mirror.  “You purposely left your bag behind,” he accused, just to hear Reid laugh.

“Of course.  How else was everyone supposed to park their cars a block away and make it inside Jessica’s house?” Reid questioned rhetorically, and Hotch sighed and rested his chin on the other man’s shoulder.

“Garcia said you planned the party,” he murmured, tightening his arms around Reid’s waist.  Hotch found himself intrigued by the blush that dusted his partner’s cheeks.

Reid cleared his throat and shrugged the shoulder Hotch had his chin hooked over.  “I’m not certain that’s entirely accurate.  I brought up the idea to Garcia, but she did most of the planning.”

Hotch hummed softly, turning his face into Reid’s neck.  “I’ve never had a surprise party before.” 

He felt Reid startle before asking, “Never?”

“Haley and Jessica did a little thing for me about six years ago, with them and Jack.  I appreciated the sentiment behind it, but I got called in for a case, and by the time I got back, she was angry with me for leaving, so the decorations were taken down.  I didn’t blame her, though.”  He closed his eyes, nose gently nudging beneath Reid’s jaw.  “I guess I owe everyone a thank you for accommodating the case.”

Reid made a noise that was a cross between a scoff and a huff.  “Hotch, that’s not necessary.  We knew it was a possibility, so we planned accordingly.  It’s what people do when they love someone.”

Hotch opened his eyes and lifted his head to smile at Reid’s reflection.  “So you’re saying you love me?”

The younger man sighed fondly.  “You know I do, Aaron.”

He blamed it on Reid’s use of his first name.  He had already been fairly emotional over everything that had occurred that evening, and Reid calling him “Aaron” for the first time brought the words unbidden to his lips.  “Then marry me.”

Reid’s eyes held his in the mirror, and Hotch returned the gaze steadily, not entirely willing to take it back even though he was definitely on edge.  He half expected Reid to answer perplexedly, or to write it off, but instead the genius shook his head almost incredulously.  “I don’t know why I thought this one thing would go as I planned when everything else didn’t.  If the others would have let me do it on your birthday like I _wanted_...” Reid muttered, and it took Hotch a moment to understand what exactly Reid was saying because he was honestly too shocked by the idea.

“Spencer...?”  He didn’t trust himself to finish the sentence, and he unwillingly allowed Reid to slip from his hold when the younger man pulled away.  He followed Reid out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, watching as the brunette lifted his pillow and turned around, hand extended with the palm up and a small black box sitting in it.

“It’s actually probably better this way.  I had some stuff written down that I wanted to say, and I don’t remember any of it, minus the part about asking you to marry me.  Everyone was trying to get me to do it at the party, but I thought it would be better at home,” Reid admitted, smiling nervously.  He then cleared his throat and added, “And I would really appreciate it if you would say something or at least nod, because now I’m worried that you said that in the moment and you didn’t really mean it.”

Hotch wasn’t sure he’d be able to answer verbally, and since nodding seemed like too _little,_ he closed the distance between them and pulled Reid into his arms.  He felt the tension in Reid’s body release as the younger man returned his embrace.  “Happy Birthday, Aaron,” Reid breathed, and he had to concur.

Though belated, it had turned out to be quite the happy birthday, indeed.


End file.
